Fight or Flight
by Livia Yoran
Summary: Eeth Koth, strictest Jedi Master in the Temple, and his first padawan Lakhri - a growth-restricted human - leave on a mission, taking fourteen-year-old junior padawan Nandi with them. Eeth is canon, the other characters are not. Contains spanking of teenagers. If this offends you, do not read and do not bother flaming either, please. You have been warned.
1. Chapter 1

Junior padawan Nandi heaved an exasperated sigh and pushed back her chair.

"I'm done studying for today," she announced.

Lakhri, who was just trying to formulate an elegant-sounding sentence on mutual peaceful relations in Bocce, rolled his eyes.

"No, you're not," he said without even looking up from his data pad.

"Yes, I am," said Nandi decisively, tossing back her chestnut curls. "I've been at this for ages. I can't even think straight any more. I'm taking a walk around the ship."

She got up from her chair, looking smug.

Lakhri pondered just letting her leave and watching the fireworks when Eeth found out, which could not take long. Of course, this wasn't the kind thing to do at all, insufferable as Nandi could be. At twenty years of age, Lakhri had gotten past the point where he would indulge in his enjoyment at watching others get their comeuppance.

"Assuming you value your ability to sit comfortably," he said neutrally, putting down his data pad and looking at the teenage girl, "I advise you to reconsider. As far as my master is concerned, your work is done when he says it's done. If he finds out you just left, he'll kick your ass into next week."

That was a fair warning, he thought. She could take it or leave it. Lakhri picked up his data pad again and looked for the place where he had left off.

Nandi just stood there, looking furious.

"He's nothing but a big bully!" she fumed.

Lakhri sighed and put his data pad down once again. Obviously, it was impossible to get some peace and quiet right now.

"He's a lot more than that, actually," he said mildly. "But, yes, he's a bully. And since he's both stronger than you and your superior, you are not in much of a position to refuse being bullied. Sorry. The sooner you accept it, the better for you. Why don't you sit down and get back to work? My master will check on you any moment now and you don't want to find out through first-hand experience how hard he spanks. Just in case you're curious, the answer is 'very'."

The expression on Nandi's face continued to be mutinous. Lakhri wondered whether he had been just as obnoxious at age fourteen. If yes, that might explain quite a lot about his master's rather intolerant behaviour, he thought.

Twenty-four hours earlier, one late Coruscant morning, Lakhri was running through a kata when his comlink beeped.

"Yes, master?" he asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Eeth had been called out of their workout to see the Council an hour earlier, and Lakhri had entirely expected this call.  
"Padawan, go home, pack and meet me in hangar eleven in an hour," said Eeth crisply. "We are leaving on a mission. Diplomatic, moderate climate."

"Alright, master," replied Lakhri. He was a senior padawan now, and such things were standard procedure. Lakhri did not take regular classes any longer. He worked on projects and studied on his own, guided by Eeth or by experts in the field; he was also occasionally asked to act as a tutor or substitute teacher when at the Temple. These days, he was using his time to study Umbaran; Eeth was taking his Ataru skills to a higher level; and he was helping the archivists with a database project - in short, there were no pressing obligations that stood in the way of leaving at an hour's notice.

What he had not expected at all was Nandi: a tall human teenage padawan with a ponytail of glossy reddish-brown curls, a freckled nose, large blue-green eyes and a rather dissatisfied look on her face. She was standing next to Eeth and giving Lakhri an incredulous look as he came hurrying in one minute late (which he knew he could get away with; even Eeth would not punish him for one measly minute!)

"YOU are Eeth Koth's padawan?" she asked in disbelief.

Lakhri rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm his pet monkey," he replied, standing next to his master.

Eeth gave him a faintly reproving look, but did not comment; after all, he thought, Nandi had rather asked for it.

"Lakhri, this is Junior Padawan Nandi Tam," he said. "Nandi, this is my padawan, Lakhri Tumuel. He is six years your senior and has ample mission experience. Therefore, I expect you to consider him your superior. Lakhri, I will go into the details of this mission and the reasons for which Nandi will accompany us once we have taken off. We are scheduled to depart in six minutes and should really get aboard."

"Sure," said Lakhri, making his way towards the ramp with his master and Nandi. "Do we have a pilot?"  
"No," said Eeth. "Show Nandi to the cabins and take my bag, please. I will go to the cockpit directly and prepare for takeoff."

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting next to Eeth in the cockpit and watching the stars turn into stripes; for Lakhri, at least, it was a familiar picture, but he noticed that Nandi was looking on in fascination.

As Eeth set the controls on autopilot, Lakhri felt legitimised to ask: "Master, could you now let me finally know where we're actually heading and what we're gonna do there?"  
"I was going to, yes," said Eeth calmly. "Let's go to the galley."

They seated themselves around the table, and Eeth said: "We are going to Shaaban to negotiate a peace conference. Originally, Nandi and her master were scheduled to conduct this mission, but Nandi's master fell quite ill. By this morning, it was clear that he would not be able to go. The Council has thus been looking for alternative solutions. This was complicated by the fact that Nandi's master will unable to look after her for at least two weeks, her grandmaster is very old and frail and her best friend is currently gone on a mission with her master, so there was the question where to place her, in addition to the question of who to assign this mission to. After discussing this with Nandi and, as far as he was able to, her master, the Council decided to look for a team of Jedi that would take over this mission and take Nandi with them."  
"Alright, so that's us," Lakhri said. "Are you okay with that, Nandi?"  
"Huh?" Nandi asked in surprise. "I mean… does it even matter? Do I have the option not to be okay with it?"  
"You did have options," Eeth pointed out quietly. "Several of them."  
"Yeah, well, none of them were all that appealing," Nandi said a little defensively, then blushed at realising how that must have sounded. "I mean… I'm not exactly thrilled that my master is sick and I had to leave him behind, but under the circumstances, going on this mission with you is really the best I could do."  
Lakhri shrugged.

"Fine, so what do I need to know about that mission?" he asked.

"Naturally, I have received a file with a mission briefing that all of us should study today," Eeth said. "One important piece of information is the fact that the negotiations will be conducted in Bocce. Lakhri and I are fluent in the language, and you, Nandi, have been studying it for six years, from what I understand. Besides mission preparation, assessing your language skills and helping you acquire the vocabulary you will need for the negotiations will be our most important task during the journey which, incidentally, will take five days. In the remaining time, you may work on the lessons your teachers have sent. Additionally, we will have daily workout sessions."

"I see we won't be idle, as usual," Lakhri said, amused at the horrified expression on Nandi's face.

"I hope you did not expect us to be," Eeth replied a tad sternly. "After all, we are on a mission. Lakhri, your Bocce is better than mine. I would like you to prepare and present the introductory statement."  
"What, me?" Lakhri asked, astonished. He simply could not get used to the concept that he might be better than Eeth at some things. Admittedly, there were few of those, and Eeth seemed to have no qualms about pointing them out which took Lakhri by surprise every time it happened.

"Yes, you," said Eeth firmly. He handed a data chip to each of them. "Read the first section of the mission briefing," he instructed. "We will divide up the rest after that."

The day passed in a blur to Nandi who was not used to the pace set by Eeth at all.

After reading the executive summary of the mission briefing individually, they had a quick lunch, then discussed their findings. She had hoped to lean back and just listen to Eeth and Lakhri telling her what was important, but Eeth would have none of that. Since she was slightly wary of the stern-looking Zabrak master, she had gone along with this as best she could, only to be told that she would have to pay better attention to her task the next time.

When the interrogation was over, Eeth had taken them to the cargo hold for a workout that was rather more demanding than what Nandi was used to. She had asked for a break at some point, only to be informed by Eeth that she would get a break when he told her she could, not before. It turned out that her endurance was, in fact, higher than she had thought (or ever been forced to test). Nevertheless, by the time they were finished and allowed to take a shower, she felt ready to collapse on her bed and not get up until the next morning. Unfortunately, Eeth and Lakhri now wanted to review her Bocce skills. It had never felt all that important to Nandi to memorise tons of polite phrases or political vocabulary, but she regretted this assessment now because it seemed that she would spend a huge part of the trip catching up on what she had missed.

When, after dinner, Eeth asked her to start working on her lessons for an hour, she reached the point at which she was about ready to go into mutiny. Fortunately for her, Lakhri realised this before she had actually started refusing to obey Eeth.

"Master, didn't you want to check on that asteroid belt?" he asked, giving Eeth a pointed look. Eeth opened his mouth to deny this, but closed it again as Lakhri asked him through their bond: /Let me talk to her, master. Just a minute. Please./

"Alright," Eeth said after a moment's hesitation and rose from his chair. "I might as well do it now. I will be back in five minutes."

"Listen," Lakhri told Nandi as soon as Eeth had left. "You obviously have not heard of my master. He's the type of man who carries a paddle in his belt just so he has it handy in case one of his charges acts up. He usually doesn't take it on missions, but that doesn't mean he will hesitate even for a fraction of a second to put you across his knee if he thinks you deserve it. And he does not give a lot of warnings. But he does expect to be obeyed. When he tells you to study, you'd better not argue unless you have a really compelling reason. Because if you do, you will still have to study, only chances are you'll be doing it on a sore bottom. Trust me on that. I've been there."  
Nandi gaped at him.

"But… I mean… I… I'm not his padawan!" she said hotly.  
"No, but he's in charge of you," Lakhri replied. "And that means he'll punish you as he sees fit."

In fact, Eeth had told Nandi as much when he had picked her up from the Council chamber, and so had the Council members, but she had pretty much dismissed it - until now. The idea did not sit well with her at all, but she was not fed up enough to test Eeth - yet.

"Just out of curiosity," she said testily. "Will I get any free time at all during this flight?"  
Lakhri shrugged.

"Not much," he said. "But he usually gives me some in the evenings unless he thinks I slacked off during the day. I daresay that if you get to work now, you will get the rest of the evening off after your hour's worth of schoolwork is done."

And that was what happened. When Eeth told Nandi she could have the rest of the evening to herself - until bedtime, at least - she just nodded curtly and stomped off to her tiny room where she lay on her bunk and sulked. Lakhri, who would have offered her to play a hologame or something if she hadn't run off in such a hurry, let her be. He had the feeling that sooner or later, despite all his warnings, she would end up throwing a tantrum at Eeth, and he knew the outcome of THAT. Well, better her than me, he thought.

Still, things went more or less smoothly throughout evening meditation and the next morning's routine. After breakfast, they put in an hour of mission preparation, with each of them reading up on details about the war they were trying to end. The effort that Nandi put in was just about passable.

"Sorry," she said sullenly when she couldn't answer a question Eeth had passed. "I'm rubbish at remembering dates. Anyway, who cares?"

Lakhri winced. He was sure that if he had said this, he would have found his nose touching the table and a paddle or Eeth's hand pounding his bottom just about now. Apparently, though, Eeth was more lenient with girls, or possibly with padawans other than his own, for he merely treated Nandi to a stern look and said: "I do. So do the people on the worlds who have been devastated by this war. You will spend your free time tonight memorising the information in your section of the mission file, and if I do not receive satisfactory answers by tomorrow morning, there will be consequences. Now, I will need to retreat to the cockpit for a while and take us out of hyperspace for communication with the Temple. Lakhri, you know what to do. Nandi, please continue your school work."

Nandi looked upset, but the expression on Eeth's face was quelling. Sulking, she fetched her data pads and got to work. And that was what she kept doing half-heartedly until, about ninety minutes later, she decided she had had enough.

She was still standing, trying to decide whether to follow Lakhri's advice despite the fact that she was sick and tired of being bossed around by a Zabrak tyrant and his dwarf, when Eeth came in. He took in Nandi's rigid posture and the mutinous look on her face and raised an eyebrow.

"I thought I told you to study," he said in that level tone of voice that Lakhri recognised as signifying that someone – and it was not him, for a change – was treading on thin ice here.

"Yeah, well, and I decided I need a break," Nandi said belligerently.

"That," said Eeth calmly, "was not your decision to make. Lakhri, could you leave us for a moment?"

"Well, it's not as if I'm getting any work done anyway," Lakhri said wryly, picked up his data pad and left, throwing Nandi a half-sympathetic look as he went. And indeed, the moment the door had swished shut behind him, Eeth had clamped his fingers around Nandi's ear, pulled her to a chair, sat down and thrown her across his lap.

"Hey, stop!" she protested and tried to twist away as a determined Jedi master started pulling her pants down, but it was futile. Less than five seconds later she discovered that Lakhri had not lied: Eeth spanked VERY hard and it hurt, even over her underwear. She yelped, kicked and wriggled her way through the first two dozen hard swats, all to no avail; and then she just cried. She cried in big, heaving sobs that made even Eeth realise that this was about more than being on the receiving end of a thorough spanking. Still, he gave her half a dozen more swats for good measure, then rested his hand on her back and let her cry it out.

It took Nandi unusually long to pull herself together and stop crying. When she did, she was unusually embarrassed.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she clambered off Eeth's lap and used the handkerchief he had offered to clean her face, thereby avoiding looking at him.

"You miss your master and you are worried about him," said Eeth surprisingly gently. "That is understandable. It is no reason to take it out on us, though. In fact, I had just come in to deliver a message from your master."  
"You did?" Nandi asked, her face lighting up immediately.

She took the holocube to her room and listened to the message three times. She smiled as she heard her master tell her how much he loved her, how proud he was of her and how he was sure she would do well on her mission; she sighed in relief as he assured her that his condition was improving and the he would be back to health by the time she returned; and she bit her lip as he reminded her to obey Master Koth and his apprentice and to treat them with respect. She really owed them an apology, and she delivered it with fairly good grace.

Thankfully, the spanking she had received from Eeth, while certainly being impressive, had not been harsh or long enough to make her uncomfortable for an extended period of time. Over the next few days, Nandi realised that Eeth and Lakhri actually had a lot to teach her: about peace negotiations, lessons, lightsaber practice and Bocce. After her run-in with Eeth, she tried to apply herself to all these tasks. To her surprise, Eeth actually noticed; he commended her for her effort, and Lakhri gave her a cheerful grin and clapped her on the shoulder. For the first time, Nandi felt good about this mission.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the trip passed by smoothly. It was boring, but since Nandi had decided to accept it as an opportunity to learn, things went much better. Her Bocce improved by several notches so that she felt confident that she would understand at least most of the proceedings and not embarrass herself when she would have to speak. Lakhri, especially, was a great teacher. She enjoyed working with him very much, and after a day or so, she didn't even notice his miniature height any more, so much had she gotten used to it. He was good company, and they usually spent their evenings talking, playing cards or the occasional hologame. Eeth was more distant, but she grew to like him in a certain, strange way nonetheless. His presence felt solid like a rock; he always seemed so _competent_ , she thought, and utterly reliable. And he was extremely knowledgeable and readily answered all of her questions, just like her master. It made her feel safe.

By the time they arrived on Shaaban, Nandi was practically exhilarated. This was the most interesting mission she had ever been on, it had gone great so far (with the small exception of the second day, but she was confident that there would be no repeat occurrence), she got to work with a great team and it was finally starting for real! Being with two Jedi other than her master made her feel much more like a proper member of the mission team, not just some kind of junior apprentice, and she pictured herself standing in front of the delegates in her Jedi robes, her lightsaber - a real one, which she had just built a few weeks ago! - dangling at her belt, doing… well, she did not know for certain _what_ it was that she would be doing, but she would contribute to the mission in _some_ way. After all, she was definitely not a child anymore. She had shown that she could do well without her master, and she was going to get back to Coruscant with a glowing report!

Their arrival was not quite as glamorous as she had anticipated, though. On Shaaban, a small neutral planet in a warring system that consisted mainly of water with a few islands, it was late night, and the place was pitch-dark. A lonely droid welcomed them and informed them that the delegates had eagerly been awaiting their arrival, but were currently asleep. He would show them to their quarters where breakfast would be served to them in the morning, after which the negotiations would start.

"Just great," said Lakhri. "We get, what? Four hours of sleep. And then I'll get to present the introductory statement."  
"Yeah, and I won't even be able to _go_ to sleep now," said Nandi a little anxiously. "I mean, my internal clock says it's mid-afternoon."

"We should help you with a sleep compulsion, then," said Eeth. "I do not want you to go without sleep before the conference starts, or you might fall asleep on your chair during the day."

"Pfff, as if I would do that," Nandi shot back, but she was glad about the offer nonetheless, especially as their quarters turned out to be less than luxurious. Nandi had been on a few missions already, all of them rather inconsequential representational or diplomatic affairs on which they had been treated as respected guests and been housed accordingly. This time, their quarters were small, musty and ill-equipped, with haphazardly assembled furniture and moldy mattresses lying on a stained stone floor. The droid was rather apologetic; he explained that Shaaban was poor and that the location had been chosen at short notice in order to prevent terrorist attacks. Eeth accepted this explanation although, when the droid had left, he quietly told the two padawans that they should check whether the delegates' accommodation was just as substandard - not because he wanted to make a claim for luxury, but because they should make sure they had not been singled out for bad treatment, which would be a rather bad sign. For now, though, they should just try to get some sleep.

Lakhri, who had volunteered to tuck Nandi in, meant well with her, with the result that Nandi proved difficult to wake in the following morning. Only when Eeth actually made good on all his threats by removing her blanket and throwing a cold, wet washcloth into her face did she jump up.

"That wasn't necessary at all," she pouted, wiping the water from her forehead.

"Yes, it was, because we are running late," said Eeth sternly. Which was true, but didn't matter since breakfast had not arrived yet. When it did, there was little time left.

"This is even worse than starship food," said Lakhri, grimacing at the lumpy bland porridge that had been served.

"Maybe it's better with sauce?" Nandi wondered, picking up a can of something red and spreading it over her porridge liberally.

"Better be care…" Lakhri started, but Nandi had already taken a big spoonful.

"BLEEEERRGH!" she yelled, spitting it out so vehemently that her tunic was splattered in the process. "Hhhhhooooott!"

She ran into the refresher and started washing out her mouth.

"Well, I won't have any of this, then," Lakhri remarked wryly.

"I will," Eeth said just as wryly and poured some over his food. Like all Zabrak, he had a high tolerance for hot spices and tended to find human food too bland.

Lakhri and he gave each other a quick smile. More and more often, they found humour in the same things, which made Lakhri feel comfortable in Eeth's presence to a degree that he found quite surprising.

By the time Lakhri and Eeth were finished eating, Nandi was only just returning from the refresher, dressed in a clean tunic.

"I'll just go without breakfast, I think," she said as she saw Eeth pulling on his boots.  
"No, you need to eat something," Eeth said. "Even if it is not appealing. The session might be long. Eat and be quick about it. Lakhri and I will go ahead and check out the room and the schedule. Follow us, and do not take more than ten minutes."

Nandi scowled. She would have much preferred to go with them, but she had enough sense not to start an argument with Eeth, who was currently shrugging into his cloak. When Lakhri and Eeth had left, she dutifully ate a few spoonful of porridge, but it really tasted yucky. She wished she had packed some chocolate.

She had pulled on her boots and cloak, brushed her hair a second time and was just about to hurry out of a door when her sleeve snagged on a nail that came out of the door frame, of all places, and tore.

"Sith!" she yelled and nearly stomped her foot in frustration. This place was so derelict it gave her the creeps! Coming from the Temple, where everything was simple, but clean, functional and high-tech, she was not used to this at all. Cursing under her breath, she hurried back to her room and searched for a safety pin that would keep the tear together provisionally. She did not have a second cloak; she hoped Lakhri or Eeth would be able to show her how to mend it.

By the time she was ready to leave, she was already running late and she knew it. Still, she forced herself not to run. After all, she reminded herself, she was an official representative of the Jedi Order and she needed to present herself as such!

The meeting room was just down the corridor and across a big hall; the protocol droid had pointed it out to them last night, and it was not hard to find. Nandi approached it in fast, determined strides, her cloak billowing behind her, and was just about to enter the double doors when a burly, scruffy-looking security guard stepped into her way.

"No children allowed," he barked in Bocce and started to close the right door. His colleague, taller, thinner and just as scruffy-looking, followed suit with the left one, beckoning for her to shoo off.

Nandi gaped at them for a moment. Then she became angry.

"I am Jedi Padawan Nandi Tam and I am part of the Jedi delegation," she said in Bocce as confidently as she could and made to stride through the doors before they closed. The guards laughed. One of them grabbed Nandi's shoulders and bodily shoved her away from the entrance. At this point, rage took over. Before she even knew it, Nandi had drawn her saber and the blade had flared to a bright blue.

"Back off!" she said, her voice shaking with fury. The guards, who were looking positively terrified, jumped backwards.

Eeth and Lakhri had, in fact, been looking out for Nandi. However, they had been busy introducing themselves to the heads of the delegations and discussing the schedule with them. Lakhri, who was sensing Eeth's impatience about Nandi's absence, had just been about to excuse himself and fetch her when the uproar at the door drew everyone's attention. Lakhri turned just in time to see a guard shove Nandi away. He jumped up, signaling to Eeth that he would deal with it, but before he had any time to do so, Nandi's saber flared up.

He was not the only one who was taken by surprise by this turn of events. Half the roomful of delegates jumped up; some uttered cries of dismay, others threw distrustful or accusatory looks at the Jedi.

"Switch off your saber, for Force's sake!" Lakhri yelled at Nandi, running over to her.

"They were attacking me!" Nandi snapped, swinging her saber in a wide arc that had the door guards running and a few delegates screaming. The blade felt powerful in her hands, and this helped her overcome her feelings of humiliation and helplessness at being thrown out of the room.

Suddenly, she felt herself encircled by a strong arm from behind and pressed against a rock-solid torso. An iron hand clamped around the wrist of her sword arm, and she heard Eeth's voice hiss from above: "Switch off your saber. You are dangerously close to creating a major diplomatic incident if you have not already done so. I do not think you will want to answer to the Council for this."

"Or your master, for that matter," Lakhri added in a much gentler tone of voice, and that argument finally snapped her out of her haze of fury. She drew a deep breath and disignited her saber with a click.

Eeth released his hold on her.

"Give me your saber," he said, and his tone of voice indicated very clearly that this was not a request.

"What?" Nandi exclaimed. "Don't you get it? They _attacked_ me!"

"I _said_ ," Eeth repeated in a dangerously low voice, "give me your saber. This is neither the time nor the place to argue my instructions. I am trying to salvage a dangerous situation that you created, and you would do well to go along with everything I say."

Nandi drew another deep, shaking breath and slowly, hesitantly handed her saber over to him. Eeth clipped it to his belt and said quietly and firmly: "Now you will pull yourself together, go to the heads of the delegation and apologise. Tell them you felt threatened and misjudged the situation and that you meant no harm. If you cannot do this in Bocce, I will translate for you. And then you will take your seat at the table. Do you understand?"  
Nandi gave a brief, jerky nod. She would have dearly loved to flee from the room and hide somewhere far away, but that was not a realistic option; she knew that much. They had a job to do, and hiding was not part of that job. Squaring her shoulders, she followed Eeth towards the head table, trying to phrase an appropriate apology in Bocce in her head. And she managed to utter it with hardly a mistake. She thought she recognised a hint of approval in Eeth's eyes, but she was not quite certain. What she was certain of was that he did look stern, but she could hardly blame him for that.

Lakhri, in the meanwhile, seeing that Eeth had the situation under control, had immediately taken to calming down the delegates and talking them out of their consternation. Eeth had noticed this and felt a sudden surge of pride and affection at how efficiently and competently his padawan handled such situations and how seamlessly they worked together as a team these days. Lakhri's practical-mindedness and his people skills made him an invaluable companion on every mission, and Eeth made a mental note to tell him that when there was time; because one of the lessons he had learned from his master was that some things simply were _not_ self-understood. He remembered this too rarely, but when he did, he made an effort to act on it these days.

His pride increased as Lakhri delivered a perfect introductory speech. Of course, he had talked about its contents with Eeth during the trip, but most of the ideas, the structure and the choice of words were his, and he had done an admirable job of it. Eeth took over when Lakhri had finished and the delegates had applauded, moderating the statements of the delegation leaders and the ensuing discussion. Nandi tried hard to follow and take notes, if only to keep her mind off the trouble she was in. Whatever had possessed her to draw her saber? She had not actually been afraid; insulted, mostly, and angry. And she knew that was no excuse at all. But maybe, she thought, she could pick up on the rationale Eeth had suggested and pretend that she had felt under threat and been unable to think clearly? It was the best idea she could come up with.

For now, though, the older Jedi were entirely focussed on their task and not on Nandi. The proceedings went on for about two hours and a half until a break was called. Normally, Nandi knew, drinks would be served at such occasions and sometimes a few snacks, the details depending on the location and the culture of their hosts. This was true for this occasion as well… sort of. A few sullen-looking people in grey sleeveless robes brought in a few jugs of water and a stack of paper cups. That was it.

Eeth did not pay attention; he was looking up some detail in the mission file, his brow creased in concentration.

Lakhri, however, looked at the jugs of water, the delegates and then at Eeth.

"This has to stop," he said firmly.

Eeth looked up.

"What has to stop?" he asked, slightly absent-mindedly.

Lakhri pointed at the water.

"This," he said. "The porridge. The beds. Everything."

"Padawan," said Eeth sternly, "your own desire for luxury and good food notwithstanding–"

"Oh, come off it," said Lakhri irritably. "You know perfectly well that I'm able to get by on energy bars or no food at all if need be. This has got to stop because it is putting the delegates off. Just look at them."

Eeth gazed at the room in silence for a moment, and Nandi braced herself for a major reprimand, to say the least. To her surprise, Eeth said quite calmly: "You are right, Padawan. Thank you for drawing my attention to this. In order to do something about it, however, we first need to find out why this is happening."

"Right," said Lakhri. "Excuse me for a minute."

He ambled over to a pair of women in grey who were just clearing off some empty jugs and cups.

"Here, let me help you," he said amiably. He grabbed a stack of cups and followed them out of the room, ignoring their wary looks and cheerfully talking to them.

"And now?" Nandi asked Eeth when Lakhri had disappeared from sight.  
"Now we wait," replied Eeth a tad severely. "And while we do so, you try hard to appear as humble and unthreatening as you possibly can because these people have not forgotten the little scene you created this morning, you may trust me on that."

With that, he picked up his data reader and continued to browse for the information he was looking for.

Nandi felt quite useless. On the other hand, she was relieved that so far, nobody had gone to the trouble of hauling her over the coals for her actions this morning. Maybe it would have blown over by the evening? Alright, so Eeth did not exactly look like the type of person who would just shrug off such a thing, but a girl could hope! However, he would have to give her her saber back at some point, wouldn't he? That would probably remind him to, ah, scold her - and maybe no more than that?

She was still internally debating such matters when suddenly the women in grey reappeared, carrying trays of sliced fruit, much to her surprise. Lakhri came ambling in behind them, looking quite carefree and a tad smug. Eeth glanced at his chrono.

"You are one minute late," he said in a low, stern voice.  
"Yeah, but that hardly matters, does it?" replied Lakhri cheerfully, pointing at the delegates who were busy serving themselves from the trays.

"It does matter," Eeth said firmly. "But maybe not as much as this distinct improvement of hospitality. How did you accomplish it?"

"Admittedly, I haven't actually accomplished anything more than a preliminary result," Lakhri said more soberly, sitting down next to Eeth. "I kind of promised them money. Now we will have to get the delegations to pay it. I rely on you to achieve that."

Eeth seemed speechless for a moment, which was something that Nandi had never seen happen before.

"Look," Lakhri explained hastily. "What the protocol droid told us is true. This is a very poor and sparsely populated place. They have this one protocol droid, and that's it. We've been told that they were neutral during the war, and that's kind of true because they were too unimportant for anyone to try and conquer them, plus they reliably provided both parties with fish. Nevertheless, there have been frequent raids with the result that none of the conflict parties is at all popular here. The Shaabanis were basically forced at gunpoint to host the negotiations, with no compensation promised. They resent having to do it, they don't want to waste their scarce resources on the delegates, and they hope that by treating us poorly they will make us leave sooner. I tried to explain to them that by making the treaty fail, they certainly won't achieve an improvement of their situation whereas, if the negotiations go well, we could strive to take their interests into consideration in the treaty. That kind of got them to open up a little, but the fruit only appeared when I promised them I'd settle the matter of compensation for them. Which really _ought_ to be settled, master."

Eeth thought about this for a moment.

"Yes, I agree that it should," he finally said. "How do you propose we go about this, then?"  
"I've arranged a meeting with the Shaabani chieftain or whatever it is you'd call her in Basic," Lakhri said. "Here, they call her Xantria. She will be here tonight at six and it would be a great idea if we had something to offer her by then."

"I will talk to the delegates after the morning's sessions," Eeth said simply. And then, seeing that everybody had served themselves, he started the session.

Nandi thought that this was quite a positive development. The less spare time Eeth had, the more likely it was that the saber incident would blow over.


End file.
